The last two centuries have seen significant advances made in personal communication, especially over the past several decades. The nineteenth century, for example, brought the development of the telegraph, which paired communication with electrical conductors. Prior to this, the only feasible means of communication at a distance was by post. By the beginning of the twentieth century, growing use of the telephone allowed for speech-based communication over electrical conductors. Not far behind was the availability of the two-way radio that delivered voice without the need for a conductive tether.
A true explosion of communication innovation came with the advent of the microprocessor. The computer age would expand the available methods of communication to include: e-mails, text messaging, instant messaging, social networking sites, and video chatting. The increased ease and convenience offered by these modern-day communication technologies have resulted in a shift toward extensive personal networks. One-touch connections and low-cost plans available on “go anywhere” portable communication devices, for example, have users reaching out more often and to more people than they did in the past.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention. In addition, the description and drawings do not necessarily require the order illustrated. It will be further appreciated that certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.